Rolled sheet material



April 30, 1968 H. WARP 3,380,580

ROLLED SHEET MATERIAL Filed June 24, 1966 nited States 3,38,58@ PatentedApr. 30, 1968 3,380,530 ROLLED SHEET MATERIAL Harold Warp, Chicago,Ill., assignor to Flex--Glass, Inc, a corporation of Illinois Filed June24, 1966, Ser. No. 560,256 9 Claims. (Cl. 296-58) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A rolled sheet material having a side edge irregular in thedirection of the thickness of the sheet, the mid portion of the sheetextending between the side edges thereof being regular and the sheetmaterial haviru a substantially constant thickness throughout.

This invention relates to rolled sheet material and in particular tosuch material having relatively high tendency to cling to itself.

One improved form of sheet material adapted for use such as a food wrapcomprises a thin sheet of polyethylene provided in a rolledconfiguration in a suitable dispensing container, or carton. Such sheetmaterial has a substantial tendency to cling to itself making it quitedifficult for the user to separate the distal end portion of the rolledsheet to permit the Withdrawal of the desired length thereof from theroll. Further, the extreme thinness of the material and the substantialtransparency thereof make it quite difiicult to locate the side edges ofthe sheet. Still further, such sheet material has a tendency to entrapair between the roll layers in the middle portion thereof, that is theportion between the side edges of the sheet.

The present invention comprehends an improved rolled sheet materialwhich eliminates the above discussed disadvantages of such sheetmaterial in a novel and simple manner. Thus, a principal object of thepresent invention is to provide a new and improved rolled sheetmaterial.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a rolled sheetmaterial having means at one or both of the side edges of the rolledsheet for facilitating the separation from the rolled configuration of adistal portion of the sheet defining the outermost layer of the roll byproviding a visual indication to the user of the location of the sheetedge.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a rolled sheetmaterial having means for facilitating the finger-tip separation fromthe rolled configuration of the distal portion of the sheet defining theoutermost layer thereof comprising means defining an irregular side edgeof the sheet providing a series of edge portions spaced from thesubjacent layer.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of such a rolledsheet material wherein the side edge is provided with an indicium forproviding both a visual indication of the edge and additionalinformation to the user.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of such arolled sheet material wherein the side edge is embossed.

A yet further feature of the invention is the provision of such a rolledsheet material wherein the sheet edge is colored.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of such a rolledsheet material wherein the sheet is extruded and the edge is formed ofextrusion material having a visual appearance different from that of thematerial forming the sheet between the side edges thereof.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingwherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of apparatus forming a pairof sheets embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary perspective of an apparatus providing anextruded sheet for forming a pair of sheets embodying the invention, theextruded sheet being provided with portions thereof having a visualappearance different from that of the material between the portions,whereby said portions may define the visually readily determinable sideedges of the rolled sheet of the invention;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of an apparatus providing anembossing of the side edge of the sheet comprising an indicium whichboth visually indicates the location of the side edge of the sheet andprovides additional information to the viewer;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation of the apparatus of FIG- URE 3 furtherillustrating the associated extrusion means and inking means; and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a rolled sheet embodying theinvention.

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention as disclosed in thedrawing, a rolled sheet generally designated is shown to comprise asheet 11 formed of a thin material having a relatively high tendency tocling to itself. Thus, for example, the sheet may be formed ofpolyethylene. The sheet material may be transparent and, thus, in theconventional rolled sheet configuration, separation of the distalportion 12 of the sheet from the rolled configuration is quite diflicultbecause of the difficulty of locating the sheet side edges and afterlocating the side edges in separating them from the subjacent layer ofthe rolled sheet. The present invention overcomes this vexatious problemby providing means defining the side edges 13 and 14 as irregular sheetedges and means for visually indicating the location of the irregularedges for facilitating the separation of the sheet portion 12 from thesubjacent layer 15.

More specifically, as shown in FIGURE 1, a pair of sheets 11 may beformed from an extruded sheet 16 delivered from a suitable conventionalextrusion apparatus 17 to a setting roller 18 where the extruded sheetmaterial is set. The set sheet 16 is then delivered to a second, orback-up, roller 19. Embossing means in the form of a pair of thinembossing wheels 20 and a wide embossing wheel 21 are provided forcooperation with roller 19 to emboss the sheet 16 at the opposite sidesthereof and along the centerline thereof as shown in FIGURE 1. Themiddle embossing wheel 21 is twice as wide as the side wheels 20 andforms along the centerline of the sheet 16 a double width embossment 22.The sheet 16 is subsequently slit along its centerline by a suitableslitting wheel 23 which bisects the embossment 22 and which therebyforms the two sheets 11 each having similar embossed side edges 13 and14.

By suitably embossing the side edges 13 and 14, the embossed side edgesthemselves may provide a sufficient visual indication of the side edgesof the sheet 11 to permit the user to locate these edges for facilitatedwithdrawal of the distal portion 12 of the sheet. However, to furtherfacilitate such location of the side edges, it has been found desirableto provide an additional indication means at these edges. Thus, forexample, as shown in FIGURE 2, a modified extrusion apparatus 24 isillustrated wherein the sheet 25 extruded therefrom is provided withside edges 26 and centerline portion 27 formed of an extrusion materialhaving a visual appearance different from that of the material formingthe sheet 25 between the portions 26 and 27. Portion 27 defines a bandhaving substantially twice the Width of the portions 26 and, thus, maybe subsequently divided into two 3 halves by the slitting wheel 23 toform the final rolled sheet material wherein the side edges 13 and 14have additional visual indicating means formed therein.

Another embodiment of the invention is. illustrated in FIGURE 3 whereinvisual indication of the side edges is effected by imprinting thereon asuitable indicating means 28. The imprinting may comprise a printed formof the embossing effected by the embossing Wheel 29. Illustratively, theembossment 28 may comprise the trademark of the manufacturer of therolled sheet material 10. As shown in FEGURE 4, the visual indicationmay be enhanced by inking the wheel 29 as by means of a conventional inksupply mechanism 30 including a supply roll 31 for picking up ink 32from a suitable receptacle 33 and transferring it through a transferroll 34 to the wheel 29.

While I have described only several different arrangements of the meansproviding the irregular edges of the rolled sheet and the means forproviding a. visual indication of the edges, as will be obvious to thoseskilled in the art, the structural concepts of such means may beembodied in a substantial number of different forms thereof. Further, aswill be obvious to those skilled in the art, the provision of thedisclosed means for facilitating sepa ration of the edge of the sheetfrom other portions of the sheet facially engaged thereby as Well as theprovision of the means for facilitating the location of the sheet edgemay also find substantial advantage after the distal portion 12 isseparated from the rolled sheet configuration. Thus, for example, wherethe separated distal portion 12 is used to Wrap a foodstuff thediscussed means provide facilitated upwrapping thereof when desiredgenerally in the same manner as in facilitating the withdrawal of thedistal portion 12 from the rolled sheet configuration.

By providing the edge irregularity or the visual indicating means in theform of indicium, a synergistic effect is provided wherein these meansfurther provide additional information to the user. Still further, wheredesired, the edge irregularity or visual indication may be in the formof a highly aesthetic design providing an attractive edging to the sheetsynergistically. The extruded sheet portions 26 and 27 discussed abovemay be colored portions as desired. Further, by providing the radialspacing between portions of the rolled sheet edges and the adjacentlayers thereof, entrapment of air in the midportion of the rolled sheetconfiguration is effectively eliminated thereby providing a furtherimproved compact rolled sheet configuration.

While I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention, itis to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes,therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in theappended claims.

I claim:

I. In a rolled sheet of thin plastic material of substantially constantthickness having relatively high tendency to cling to itself bysubstantially only a static charge, means for facilitating finger tipseparation from the rolled sheet of a distal portion defining theoutermost layer thereof, comprising means defining a side edge of saidsheet irregular in the direction of thickness of the sheet and extendingsubstantially the length of said sheet for providing in the distalportion comprising the outermost layer of the rolled sheet a pluralityof edge portions spaced radially from the underlying layer of the rolledsheet, the mid-portion of the sheet extending between the side edgesthereof being regular whereby the distal end of said mid-portion clingsto said underlying layer.

2. The sheet means of claim 1 wherein said side edge is provided withmeans for visual indication thereof.

3. The sheet means of claim 1 wherein said side edge is embossed.

4. The sheet means of claim 1 wherein said sheet is substantiallytransparent and said side edge is provided with means for visualindication thereof.

5. The sheet means of claim 1 wherein said side edge is provided with anindicium for providing visual indication of the edge and otherinformation.

6. The sheet means of claim 1 wherein said sheet edge is colored.

7. The sheet means of claim 1 wherein said sheet edge is formed of amaterial having a different appearance from the material forming theportion of the sheet between the side edges thereof.

8. The sheet means of claim 1 wherein said irregular side edge means isprovided at each of the opposite side edges of the sheet.

9. In a rolled sheet of thin material having relatively high tendency tocling to itself, means for facilitating finger tip separation from therolled sheet of a distal portion defining the outermost layer thereof,comprising means defining an irregular side edge of said sheet extendingsubstantially the length of said sheet for providing in the distalportion comprising the outermost layer of the rolled sheet a pluralityof edge portions spaced radially from the underlying layer of the rolledsheet, said sheet comprising an extrusion and said edge being formed ofextrusion material having a visual appearance different from that of thematerial forming the sheet between the side edges thereof.

References Qited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,274,712 3/1942 Kroner 206-572,673,643 3/1954 Blank et a1. 20659 3,016,137 1/1962 Pollock 206581,158,537 11/1915 Muzzy 194-40 1,693,477 11/1928 Collins 221-271,944,229 1/1934- Fritsche 221-27 2,190,879 2/1940 Mayfeild 2212772,321,642 6/1943 Anthony 221-301 XR 3,050,214 8/1962 Kopf.

3,103,298 10/1963 Polster 221-312 XR 3,163,275 12/1964 Andrews et a1.2213 01 XR 3,248,005 4/1966 Joschko 221-3 12 MARTHA L. RICE, PrimaryExaminer.

